Circulating system



1968 H. E. WINFIELD, JR 3,365,118

CIRCULATING SYSTEM Filed May 29, 1966 Fig. 2

I NVE N TOR. Q H0 Ward E. Mnfie/aj J! Fig.

BY ,7 His Afforney United States Patent 3,365,118 CIRCULATING SYSTEMHoward E. Winfield, Jr., Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General MotorsCorporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 20,1966, Ser. No. 551,612 3 Claims. (Cl. 230-47) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREIn the preferred form, a propeller type fan is mounted in an aperture ina shroud. This shroud flares outwardly and curves forwardly above andbelow the aperture. A baflle is provided in front of the fan and spacedaway from the forwardly curved portions of the shroud to provide outletsabove and below. In addition, the shroud is provided with an aperture inthe forwardly curved portion which may be connected to a duct providingan additional outlet.

This invention pertains to a circulating system such as may be used tocirculate air through the evaporator and the below and above freezingcompartments of frost-free household refrigerators.

While centrifugal fans have occasionally been provided with dual ormultiple outlets as illustrated in Patent 3,05 0,- 961 issued Aug. 28,1962, this arrangement requires a relatively complicated and expensivescroll for eflicient air circulation. There apparently has been noarrangement for providing dual or multiple outlets for a propeller typefan.

It is an object of this invention to provide an efficient, inexpensivecirculation system employing a propeller type fan which provides aplurality of outlets arranged to proportion the air delivered in desiredproportions.

It is another object of this invention to provide an efficient,inexpensive circulating arrangement employing a propeller type fan,shroud and duct arrangement which will efliciently provide a pluralityof outlets delivering gas or air in different desired proportions atdifferent velocities and pressures.

These and other objects are attained in the form shown in the drawingsin which a propeller type fan is mounted in an aperture in a shroud.This shroud flares outwardly and forwardly above and below the aperturein which the fan is located. A bafiie is provided in front of the fan sothat the air flows upwardly and downwardly around the baffle and betweenthe edges of the baffle and the flared portions of the shroud. Theshroud and baffle may be arranged so as to deliver the air through twoor more outlets. In addition, the shroud is provided with an aperture inits flared portion which may be connected to a duct providing anadditional outlet.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings wherein preferred embodiments of the present invention areclearly shown.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View through the rear wallportion of a two-compartment refrigerator embodying a circulating systemillustrating one form of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary inclined sectional view through the fan andadjacent portions of the circulating system taken along the line 2-2 ofFIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an inclined front view of the fan and circulating systemperpendicular to the line 2--2 of FIG- URE l as indicated by the arrow3.

Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated a householdrefrigerator cabinet 20 having an insulated rear wall 22, insulated topand bottom walls 24 and 26, and an insulated horizontal partition wall28 dividing the interior of the cabinet into an upper compartment 30 anda lower compartment 32. At the rear of the compartment 32 there islocated an inclined fin and tube evaporator 34 normally maintained atbelow freezing temperatures by a suitable motor compressor and condenserrefrigerant liquefying system. In front of the evaporator 34 is avertical partition wall 36 extending between the side walls of thecompartment 32 and having an upper inclined portion 38 extending to thepartition wall 28. The evaporator 34 has its lower rear edgesubstantially in contact with the rear wall 22 and its upper front edgesubstantially in contact with the partition wall 36. With thisevaporator arrangement, the partition wall 36 will not be cooledsubstantially belowfreezing temperatures at any point. In front of theevaporator 34 the vertical partition wall 36 is provided with entrancelouvers 40 through which air may pass from the compartment 32 into thechamber 42 provided between the vertical partition wall 36 and the rearwall 22 above the bottom wall 26.

According to my invention, in the upper inclined portion 38 of thepartition wall 36 there is provided an opening 44 which receives ashroud 46 which may be formed of sheet plastic. This shroud 46 isprovided with a center aperture 48 having an inturned circular flange50. The propeller type fan 52 is concentrically located within theopening 48 with the rear edges of its blades substantially in alignmentwith the rear face of the shroud 46. The propeller type fan 52, as wellas its drive shaft and drive motor 54, are perpendicular to the upperinclined portion 38 as the shroud 46 which is inclined at the same angleas the upper inclined portion 38. The shroud 46 has substantiallystraight side walls 56- substantially parallel to the axis of the fan 52and parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the planeof the inclined upper portion 38. The shroud 46 is generally rectangularand has upper and lower concave wall portions 58 and 60 which flareoutwardly and curve forwardly from the inlet opening 48 as shown inFIGURE 1.

Extending between the front edges of the side walls 56 of the shroud 46is a rectangular baffle 62 having outwardly extending projections 64which snap into place in apertures 66 in the side walls 56 to provide aremovable snap locking arrangement. This 'baffle 62 may also have sideflanges 68 having a gasket 70 between them and the adjacent upperportion 38 to prevent rattling and air leakage. The upper and loweredges of the baflle 62 are spaced a substantial distance away from theupper and lower portions 58 and 60 of the shroud 46 so as to provideupper and lower outlets 72 and 74. However, if desired, the sides of theshroud could be flared similarly to the upper and lower portions 58 and60 with the baffle similarly spaced from the adjacent edges of theshroud to provide two additional outlets. In addition, the upper portion58 is provided with a rectangular opening 76 located substantiallyradially of the propeller fan 52. Some of the air propelled by the fanis thrown radially to force air through the opening 76 into the duct 78having its entrance above the opening 76 and extending upwardly throughthe rear wall 22 to an opening 80 which opens into the top of thecompartment 30. The rear wall 22 is also provided with a return duct 82extending from the outlet opening 84- in the lower portion of thecompartment 30 to the discharge opening 86 at the bottom of the chamber42. If desired, additional openings could be provided in the upper andlower portions 58 and 60 and the sides 56 of the shroud 46 to provideadditional outlets.

With this circulating system, the operation of the fan 52 will draw airfrom the compartment 30 through the inlet 84, the duct 82, and theoutlet 86 into the chamber 42 while additional air will flow from thecompartment 32 through the louvers 40 into the chamber 42. This air willthen be drawn upwardly through the evaporator 34 and particularlybetween its fins and around the tubing thereof into the chamber 38 abovethe evaporator 34 to the rear side of the fan 52;. This air will bedrawn by the fan 52 in through the inlet 48 and a major portion will bedischarged upwardly and downwardly in front of the shroud 46 and aroundthe bafile 62 for flow through the outlets 72 and 74 into thecompartment 32. A minor portion of air will be discharged from thepropeller 52 radially upwardly through the opening 58 and the duct 78and discharged through the outlet opening 60 into the compartment 30.The air circulates through the compartments 3E) and 32 and will maintainthese compartments at their different desired temperatures with thecompartment 32 being maintained at a temperature substantially below thetemperature of the compartment 30 by the greater and more free air flowprovided for it.

The evaporator 34, the fan 52 and its motor 54 may be a part of arefrigerator of the type shown in FIGURES 1 and 3 of Patent 3,000,186issued Sept. 19, 1961.

While the embodiments of the present invention as herein disclosed,constitute preferred forms, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A gas circulating system including a rotatable fan, a shroud having aportion flared outwardly and curved forwardly surrounding a substantialportion of the periphery of the fan, said shroud being provided withinlet means at one side of the fan, a baflle on the opposite side ofsaid fan from said inlet means, said bafile being spaced away from saidforwardly curved area of said shroud to form a first discharge openingbetween it and said shroud, said shroud in its forwardly curved portionhaving a second discharge opening located in radial alignment with saidfan.

2. A gas circulating system as defined in claim 1 in which the shroudhas a portion curved forwardly and outwardly above and below said fanfrom said inlet to the plane of said baffie, said curved shroud portionbeing spaced above and below said bafile to provide first upper andlower discharge openings.

3. A gas circulating system as defined in claim 1 in which the shroudhas a portion curved forwardly and outwardly from said inlet to theplane of said bafile, said curved shroud portion being spaced from saidbaffie to provide said first discharge opening, said second dischargeopening being located in said portion curved outwardly and forwardly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,197,144 9/1916 Montague 230-471,575,447 3/1926 Moore 230-47 2,959,936 11/1960 Mann et a1 62- 4192,982,115 5/1961 Wortz et al 62-419 3,310,957 3/1967 Saunders et a1.62419 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,148,803 7/1957 France.

HENRY F. 'RADUAZO, Primary Examiner.

